


Mother's daughters

by CrunchyWhiteBread



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff, Gen, How Do I Tag, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:01:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24954226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrunchyWhiteBread/pseuds/CrunchyWhiteBread
Summary: A spirit related mess leaves Lin in her office with 12 years old Toph Beifong right in front of her, and they bond over their mothers.
Relationships: Lin Beifong & Toph Beifong
Comments: 17
Kudos: 326





	Mother's daughters

The girl doesn't look uncomfortable at all. She looks fine, really, her tiny, short 12 years old self sitting on the floor of the precinct (after being offered a chair multiple times) resting against the wall and picking her toes. She doesn't look like a child who has been completely ripped from her timeline or anything like that.  
Lin, on the other hand, is not fine. At all. She didn't even get a run down of how the hell this happened in the first place - Korra just came dragging pre-teen Toph Beifong by the arm and dropped her, saying something about spirits and "I will be back and fix everything". It's been two hours and nothing.  
Lin almost jumps when a inquiring voice came from the other end of the room.  
"So..." the girl drags the word "You're the chief, right? In this police thing? That's really cool."  
Lin nods, slowly, not wanting to say anything. The girl waits, silently, and then sighs.  
"I'm not sure if you noticed the blank eyes, but I'm kind of blind" she waves her hand in front of her own face two or three times "just saying in case you're nodding or something. People tend to do that."  
"Oh, right" Lin clears her throat, "Sorry, yeah... I'm the chief."  
"What's your name? Or should I just call your chief?"  
You know my name, Lin thinks, you came up with it. Somehow it has never crossed her mind that there was a time when Toph Beifong was not her mother, maybe because there was never a time when she wasn't Toph Beifong's daughter.  
"Lin. My name is Lin" she says, "and you're Toph."  
"Yes. Toph Beifong, the blind bandit. The greatest earthbender alive and the first metalbender!" She proclaims, raising her voice just a bit and smiling proudly, " I'm kind of a big deal. I helped defeat the fire lord, you know. Does that mean something around here? I mean, this is the future, right? The girl avatar said so and she wasn't lying, so... you guys know the story?"  
Of course she does. Toph would tell them tales every night before collapsing into bed, exhausted and without touching dinner. Lin would always hear the same stories over and over again, closing her eyes and trying to see the world how her mother saw it. Feeling the cold and the feeling of the bed sheets on her feet, and hearing her mother's soft voice and soft heartbeats. The memory warms her.  
"Yeah, we do. I heard it a bunch. You always... I mean, my mother was a big fan of you... and the avatar."  
"Oh, feels good to be appreciated."she says, using her pinky to clear her outer ear and Lin is thankful she cant see the frown on her face "my mother only had boring stories about earth princesses waiting to be rescued by a brave knight or whatever. I don't miss it."  
"The stories?" Lin says, before even thinking about it, "Or your mother?"  
The girl stops. The head that had been kept low rises, and blank eyes find her and Lin forgets she's blind for a second.  
"The stories. And her too, I guess, but-" she sighs, "She wouldn't come for me. You know? If something happened and she had to come for me right now, she wouldn't because I disappointed her. I don't care that we don't get along I just wanted to know that she would come for me. I-I don't know why I'm telling you this. I feel like I can trust you, for some reason. It's not like I'm ever going to see you again, right? Will probably be dead when you reach the middle of your life."  
Lin swallows, the mention of her mom being dead sounding just wrong. She keeps going.  
"My mom, she... she wasn't there a lot. She was busy. We fought a lot. I feel like I could never please her."  
"Do you love her? Your mom?"  
"I dont know"  
"You're lying."  
Lin smiles.  
"Yeah, I guess I am." She says "I love her, I just... its complicated. We fought a lot, we never agree on anything, but, yeah, she wasn't the bad mom I like to think she was sometimes. She wasn't perfect, but she was good."  
You were good, Lin thinks, sometimes, when people allowed you to be. And you would come for me. Even after I screamed at you and told you I never wanted to see you again, you faced tons of metal benders to save me and you dragged yourself all the way from a swamp when Su was in danger and I dont even know how you knew she was in danger in the first place.  
"Your heatbeat", Toph says, "it's kind of quick. You're okay? I-I didn't mean to pry. I know moms can be hard to talk about."  
"No, it's okay. What about you? You want children?"  
The girl smiles a little bit, just a tiny corner of the mouth smile.  
"Yeah. I kind of do, but I'm scared."  
"Why? You don't think you can be a good mom?"  
"I'm scared that they wont like me. Sometimes people dont like me, and I pretend that I dont care but it hurts. I'm scared that I will make mistakes and force them to be things like my mother did. I want them to be free."  
Maybe not too much freedom, Lin thinks of saying, but doesn't.  
She never even considered the possibility that her mom wanted to be liked by them. And that is her, isn't it? It's not the Toph she imagined on the stories, a tiny version of her mother with the same rough stance and rough voice and metal armor. It's a girl in loose clothing and loose posture and a easy smile and a loud, shrieking voice. It's a child that wants to be liked just like she did, with a mother that didn't even try - but she did. Toph did try with her. She certainly didn't got everything right but she tried.  
"Toph, I- I think your children are going to love you. I really do."  
"What if I'm like my mom?"  
"I don't think you could be even if you tried really hard."  
"Thank you. I hope you're right", she smiles "Lin, right? That's a pretty name. I like it. Who knows, maybe I'll name my daughter after you, future police lady."  
"You want a daughter?"  
"Yes. Two, I guess. No boys, I dont want to deal with them."  
"No husband either?"  
"Nope. Maybe a boyfriend, but no husband. I already have to worry about me taking care of the kids, I cant worry about someone else being good either. I couldnt trust my child with anyone else but me."  
Lin smiles. If only you had explained it like that when I asked, huh?  
Lin opens her mouth, and then the door opens (didn't she lock it? Well, I guess she didn't), and Korra barges in.  
"Okay, Toph, we have to take you back right now or everything is going to get really messy, okay. C'mon, say goodbye and let's go."  
"Dont talk to me like I'm a toddler" she says "I'm going. Bye, future policie lady. Good luck with... you know, the future and everything."  
"Good luck with the past."  
Korra smiles and grabs Toph by the hand, only to be pushed away.  
"I can take care of myself"  
"Okay, okay, let's go then. Quick." She starts pushing her and to the hallway and closing the door. We have a time slot. Thanks for taking care of her, Chief Beifong."  
When the door is already closed, all Lin can hear is the sound of a screaming voice going "Wait, did you just call her Beifong?!"  
Lin smiles. Maybe it's time she pays her mother a visit on that swamp.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I have no electricity right now and I'm tired and eating frozen pizza and I just finished legend of korra (yeah a bit late but quarantine, u know??? I just finished atla too, finally had the time)  
> This is badly written and ooc and english isn't my first language and this is purely for my own fulfilling because I love toph and I love lin and su so- (and no i dont think her character was ruined on lok with her parenting - or aang's either). Also plot wise? No sense at all.  
> ANYWAYS  
> Leave a comment if u want to but i know what I'm getting myself into writing to a fandom that doesn't have new content


End file.
